SFSU Public Affairs Press Release

Visual Impairments Program to celebrate 50 years at S.F. State

SAN FRANCISCO-- The Visual Impairments Program at SFSU celebrates its 50th anniversary with a commemorative event titled "A Touch of Class" on Saturday, Nov. 14, from 4-7 p.m. in the Seven Hills Conference Center.

Festivities include a retrospective highlighting the programís impact upon people of all ages who are visually impaired. The evening also includes dedication of the Berthold Lowenfeld Library, which includes a display of works by Helen Keller.

Established in 1948, the S.F. Stateís Visual Impairments Program is one of the oldest of its kind in the country. It provides training for teachers of persons who are blind or who have low vision.

The program, part of the Department of Special Education, is known nationally for its teacher preparation, policy development, innovative methodology, and educational research related to blindness and visual impairments. Many of the Bay Area schoolteachers of the visually impaired are graduates of the S.F. State program.

For more information about the celebration, call Amanda Hall Lueck, assistant professor of special education and coordinator of the program, at (415) 338-1080.

Note to editors: Attending the reception on Saturday, Nov. 14, in Seven Hills will be one of the founders of the Visual Impairments Program, Leo Cain, who can be reached at (650) 348-5126. Also attending will be several of the first graduates of the program. They include Sally Mangold at (510) 581-5451, Phil Hatlen (512) 454-8631 (he has closely followed the development of the program) and Fred Sinclair (916) 446-3862. Also attending will be a recent graduate of the Visual Impairments Program, Liz Barclay, a teacher for the visual impaired at Glenview Elementary School in Oakland. She can be reached at (510) 879-2183 or (510) 558-1095.